Kirkus Reviews

An inspiring fictionalized verse biography of one of Cuba's most influential writers. Newbery Honor–winning Engle (The Surrender Tree, 2008) here imagines the youth of Cuban-born Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda (1814-73), a major 19th-century writer who was an abolitionist and feminist opposed to all forms of slavery, including arranged marriage. From Sab, her subject's 1841 abolitionist novel, Engle loosely deduces her artistic development, not only including the two arranged marriages she refused in real life, but the budding writer's struggles at home. There, "Tula" was subjected to the discriminatory views of her mother and grandfather, who sought to educate her only in the domestic arts since, according to Mamá, "Everyone knows that girls / who read and write too much / are unattractive." Denied the education her brother received, Tula laments, "I'm just a girl who is expected / to live / without thoughts." Engle's clear, declarative verse animates the impassioned voice of Tula as well as other major figures in her life--her sympathetic brother, Manuel, the orphans she comes to love and entertain with grand plays meshing themes of autonomy and racial equality, and her family's housekeeper, Caridad, a former slave who is eventually inspired by Tula's wild tales of true emancipation to leave her confining situation. Fiery and engaging, a powerful portrait of the liberating power of art. (historical note, translated excerpts from Avellaneda's work, bibliography) (Historical fiction/verse. 12 & up)

School Library Journal (Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2013)

Gr 6 Up-Engle has produced a fabulous work of historical fiction about Cuban poet, author, antislavery activist and feminist Gertrudis G&3;mez de Avellaneda. Written in free verse, the story tells of how Tula, which was her childhood nickname, grows up in libraries, which she calls "a safe place to heal/and dream&30;," influenced by the poetry of Jos&3; Mar&7;a Heredia. In Tula's voice, Engle writes, "Books are door shaped/portals/carrying me/across oceans/and centuries,/helping me feel/less alone." She takes elements from Avellaneda's novel Sab , which is believed to be autobiographical, and creates a portrait of a girl "expected/to live/without thoughts" who will not be forced into an arranged marriage, and who falls in love with a man who wants her to marry the suitor of the woman he has always loved. Tula speaks out against slavery and arranged marriages, finding them both a form of imprisonment. Engle inhabits the voices of various characters from the story, including Avellaneda's mother, who loses her inheritance because of Tula's refusal to accept an arranged marriage, and who ultimately banishes her to live with an uncle. I have always been a little leery of novels in verse because, if there is no artistic reason for the story to take that format, the verse form seems to be little more than a gimmick. Engle is writing historical fiction about a real Cuban poet, and she convinces readers that the story couldn't be told any other way. Activity Ideas: This book is ideal for literature units and can be used across the curriculum. Students can read this as an entry point to the history of Cuba, the issues of slavery and feminism, and Avellaneda's prose and poetry itself. Engle's book lends itself to teaching, and her appendix includes a bibliography of titles that kids will want to explore and research.

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2013)

Starred Review Engle's historical novel in verse is a fictionalized biography of the nineteenth-century Cuban abolitionist poet Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, known as Tula. Told in multiple voices, Engle's elegant verses, rich in simile and metaphor, focus on the poet's life as a teenager. Forbidden access to books because her mother believes reading and writing make women unattractive, Tula escapes to a nearby convent. There, she discovers volumes by the rebel poet José María de Heredia, whose words feed her own rebellious spirit, which is exemplified by her rejection of two arranged marriages. I long to write like Heredia, she muses, but what do I know of great cities and the wide lives of men? I'm just a silenced girl. My stories are simple tales of emotion. Seen as an outcast and a madwoman, she is sent to the country, where she falls in love with Sab, a freed slave, and continues to write about equality for slaves and for women. Engle's richly evocative verses conjure up a time when women, like slaves, were regarded as property to be sold into loveless marriages. This is the context for a splendid novel that celebrates one brave woman who rejected a constrained existence with enduring words that continue to sing of freedom.

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

At thirteen, Tula wonders "how many slaves / Mama will buy with the money / she gains by marrying me to / the highest bidder." Loosely based on the early life of Cuban writer Gertrudis Gsmez de Avellaneda (181473), this lyrical verse novel highlights Tula's need to write and her struggle for self-determination. A note sorts fact from fiction and samples Avellaneda's poetry.